Best Taco and Margarita in Suwanee

Last year Suwanee Magazine took on the challenge to find the Best Burger in Suwanee. This year we continued our foodie adventure and tasked ourselves with finding Suwanee’s Best Taco.

By: Lizzy Kidney | Photos by Karl Lamb

But the search didn’t stop there! We took the contest one step further and asked ourselves, “What goes best with tacos?” Our answer? Margaritas, of course! We are pleased to announce that we’ve found what we believe to be the best taco/margarita duo in Suwanee. Cheers!

The Contest

We invited Suwanee restaurants with a taco or margarita on their menu to participate in our contest this year. In the end, six local contenders delivered a variety of delicious tacos and boozy margaritas to our office. We then invited four distinguished individuals from the local culinary community to judge which one was the best. We also gave our staff members the incredibly difficult task of voting for the “People’s Choice Award” winner. In the end, we discovered that Suwanee has some of the best taco and margarita options in the area – but only one could be crowned the winner!

2018 BEST TACO AND MARGARITA JUDGING CRITERIA:
Each taco and margarita were judged based on three categories:

APPEARANCE

TASTE

OVERALL IMPRESSION

Meet The Judges:

SKYE ESTROFF MARKETING AND MEDIA MANAGER FOR TASTE OF ATLANTA

Skye Estroff is the marketing and media manager for Atlanta’s largest and longest-running food festival, Taste of Atlanta. Skye manages all television, radio and print media relationships in addition to strategizing and planning all social media. She is an Atlanta native, a University of Georgia grad and an expert in Atlanta’s best food. Taste of Atlanta has been Atlanta’s premier food and beverage festival for 16 years straight, featuring more than 90 local restaurants. This year’s festival is set to take place October 19th-21st in Historic Fourth Ward Park.

ADAM HIRSCH CO-FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF GOZA TEQUILA

Adam Hirsch is a Producer and Director for Cabin 40 Productions and the Co-Founder and Creative Director for GOZA Tequila. Adam has won an Emmy Award for Best Sports Director in Short Form, Silver TELLY Award for Directing, “Best Sports Reporting Award” by the Society of Professional Journalists, and Audience Award for Best Short Film at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Adam brings his unique experiences and creativity to the Goza Tequila team. Goza Tequila is an Atlanta-based owned and operated tequila company and has been on the market since 2015. Goza has already won several awards such as the Brand of Promise Award (Tequila Aficionado) and “Best in Category” at the prestigious Spirits of Mexico competition. Goza is a premium, craft tequila made from hand-selected Blue Agave grown in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, and offers three “Best in Class” awardwinning expressions: Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo. Goza is currently available for purchase in Georgia, South Carolina, and New York, as well as online.

ERIN ADCOCK GENERAL MANAGER OF PURE TAQUERIA DULUTH

Erin Adcock is the general manager at PURE Taqueria in downtown Duluth. PURE Taqueria is a popular Mexican restaurant with killer margaritas and a big, creative menu filled with the fresh, authentic taste of Mexico. Erin’s experience in management and customer service allows PURE Duluth to excel in pairing a great atmosphere with even better food.

JIM SHUMAKE FOUNDER OF FOOD-O-RAMA EVENTS

Jim Shumake is the brain behind some of Atlanta’s hottest food festivals. From food truck festivals to taco festivals, Shumake has tried it all. The Atlanta Margarita and Taco Festival recently completed its second year, with more than 40,000 guests and 30 restaurants coming together to celebrate taco love in one of Atlanta’s hottest parks, Historic Fourth Ward Park. Shumake also takes festivals on the road to other cities like Chattanooga and Savannah. Shumake’s newest festival is the ATLCLUCKFEST, Atlanta’s Fried Chicken Festival, taking place Oct. 6 in Candler Park.

Freshly squeezed lime juice, orange liqueur and tequila. Served on the rocks.

JUDGES’ COMMENTS:

“This tasted like a traditional margarita!”

“This margarita looked great!”

TWISTED TACO: SMOKEY MARGARITA

Grilled smokey fruit, marinated in mix and tequila.

JUDGES’ COMMENTS:

“This margarita was refreshing, and I could see myself drinking this on a hot summer day!”

“This margarita was presented very well! The glass and color were very pretty!”

Best Taco Results:

#1 Cinco Mexican Cantina’s Short Rib Taco

#2 Taco Mac’s

Roasted Wing Taco

#3 Cheeky Crafty Cantina’s

Ahi-Tuna Taco

People’s Choice:

Taco Mac’s Roasted Wing Taco

People’s Comments:

“This Taco has the perfect balance of spicy and sweet!”

Best Margarita Results:

#1 Taco Mac’s

Margarita Perfecta

#2 Cinco Mexican Cantina’s

“The 5” Margarita

#3 Cheeky Crafty Cantina’s

Cheeky Cadillac Margarita

People’s Choice for Best Margarita was also Taco Mac’s Margarita Perfecta!

People’s Comments:

“Loved the taste! Had a great balance of flavor and tequila!”

“Very smooth and refreshing!”

Taco Mac Tequila: THE SECRET BEHIND THE BEST MARGARITA IN SUWANEE

The Taco Mac team traveled to Herradura, Mexico to hand-pick their own tequila! They got to sample and select the best quality tequila with the master distiller himself. Out of the nine barrels sampled, the team chose three that they wanted to bring back to local Taco Mac restaurants.

Each bottle of tequila is double barreled, meaning that it spent 11 months in one barrel and then was transported to a different barrel where it spent an additional month. Each of the bottles that were brought back are labeled with the bottle and barrel numbers that the tequila came from!

Taco Mac’s Herradura Tequila is available only in Taco Mac restaurants!